inWarlme 


GRAHAM  LUSK 


UNIV 


/I. 


FOOD  IN  WARTIME 


By 

GRAHAM  LUSK 


PROFESSOR    OF     PHYSIOLOGY,    CORNELL    UNIVERSITY    MEDICAL    COLLEGE    IN 
NEW    YORK    CITY 


,  *    »"    >'>     J*'     j»    J 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  LONDON 

W.  B.  SAUNDERS  COMPANY 

1918     __ 

400\b 


Copyright,  1918 

by 

W.  B.  Saunders  Company 


PRINTED    IN  AMERICA 


TX 

L9r^ 


DEDICATED 

TO   MY 

FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.    A  Balanxed  Diet 7 

II.    Calories  in  Common  Lite 23 

III.    Rules  of  Saving  and  Safety 43 

Index 45 


NOTE 
The  major  parts  of  this  small  volume  appeared  under 
articles  entitled  ''Food  in  War  Time"  in  the  Scientific 
Monthly  and  "Calories  in  Common  Life"  in  Saunders' 
Medical  Climes  of  Xorth  America. 


FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 


A  BALANCED  DIET 

There  is  no  doubt  that  under  the  conditions  existing 
before  the  war  the  American  people  hved  in  a  higher 
degree  of  comfort  than  that  enjoyed  in  Europe.  Hard 
times  in  America  have  always  been  better  times  than 
the  best  tim.es  in  Europe.  As  a  student  in  Munich  in 
1890  I  remember  paying  three  dollars  a  month  for  my 
room,  five  cents  daily  for  my  breakfast,  consisting  of 
coffee  and  a  roll  without  butter,  and  thirty-five  cents 
for  a  four-course  dinner  at  a  fashionable  restaurant. 
This  does  not  sound  extravagant,  but  it  represents 
luxury  when  compared  with  the  diet  of  the  poorest 
Italian  peasants  of  southern  Italy.  Two  Italian  scien- 
tists describe  how  this  class  of  people  live  mainly  on 
cornmeal,  olive  oil,  and  green  stuffs  and  have  done 
so  for  generations.  There  is  no  milk,  cheese,  or  eggs 
in  their  dietary.  Meat  in  the  form  of  fat  pork  is  taken 
three  or  four  times  a  year.  Cornmeal  is  taken  as 
"polenta,"  or  is  mixed  mth  beans  and  oil,  or  is  made 
into  corn  bread.     Cabbage  or  the  leaves  of  beets  are 

7 


8  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

boiled  in  water  and  then  eaten  with  oil  flavored  with 
garlic  or  Spanish  pepper.  One  of  the  families  inves- 
tigated consisted  of  eight  individuals,  of  whom  two  were 
children.  The  annual  income  was  424  francs,  or  $84. 
Of  this,  three  cents  per  day  per  adult  was  spent  for  food 
and  the  remaining  three-fifths  of  a  cent  was  spent  for 
other  purposes.  Little  wonder  that  such  people  have 
migrated  to  America,  but  it  may  strike  some  as  aston- 
ishing that  a  race  so  nourished  should  have  become  the 
man  power  in  the  construction  of  our  railways,  our 
subways,  and  our  great  buildings. 

Dr.  McCoUum  will  tell  you  that  the  secret  of  it  all 
Hes  in  the  green  leaves.  The  quality  of  the  protein  in 
corn  is  poor,  but  the  protein  in  the  leaves  supplements 
that  of  corn,  so  that  a  good  result  is  obtained.  Olive 
oil  when  taken  alone  is  a  poor  fat  in  a  nutritive  sense, 
but  when  taken  with  green  leaves,  these  furnish  that 
one  of  the  peculiar  accessory  substances,  commonly 
known  as  vitamines,  which  is  present  most  abundantly 
in  butter-fat,  and  gives  to  butter-fat  and  to  the  fat  in 
whole  milk  its  dominant  nutritive  value.  The  green 
leaves  likewdse  furnish  another  accessory  substance, 
also  present  in  milk,  a  substance  which  is  soluble  in 
water  and  which  is  necessary  for  normal  life.  Further- 
more, the  green  leaves  contain  mineral  matter  in  con- 
siderable quantity  and  in  about  the  same  proportions 
as  they  exist  in  milk. 

Here  then  is  the  message  of  economy  in  diet,  corn  the 
cheapest  of  all  the  cereals,  a  vegetable  oil  cheaper  by 


A  BALANCED  DIET  9 

far  than  animal  fat,  which  two  materials  taken  together 
would  bring  disaster  upon  the  human  race,  but  if  taken 
with  the  addition  of  cabbage  or  beet-tops  they  become 
capable  of  maintaining  mankind  from  generation  to 
generation.  One  can  safely  refer  to  such  a  diet  as  a 
balanced  diet.  Just  as  in  the  case  of  the  modern 
experimental  biological  analysis  of  a  balanced  ration 
in  which  such  a  ration  is  given  to  rats  and  its  efficiency 
as  a  diet  is  tested  by  its  capacity  to  support  normal 
growth  and  reproduction  of  the  species,  so  here  the 
experimental  evidence  is  presented  that  corn  and  olive 
oil  may  become  a  sustaining  diet  when  green  leaves 
are  a  supplementary  factor. 

This  preliminary  sketch  shows  several  important 
fundamentals  of  food  and  nutrition.  If  one  gives  an 
animal  a  mixture  of  purified  food-stuffs,  pure  protein, 
pure  starch,  purified  fat,  and  a  mixture  of  salts  like  the 
salts  of  milk,  the  animal  will  surely  die.  But  if  one 
substitutes  butter-fat  for  purified  fat,  and  adds  a  water 
solution  of  the  natural  salts  of  milk,  the  animal  lives 
and  thrives. 

Again,  the  illustration  shows  how  corn  may  be  so 
supplemented  with  other  food-stuffs  as  to  become 
extremely  valuable  in  nutrition.  It  is  especially 
valuable  at  the  present  time  because  corn  is  com- 
paratively cheap  and  plentiful.  But  one  asks  how 
about  pellagra?  It  must  be  here  definitely  stated  that 
the  use  of  cornmeal  is  not  the  cause  of  pellagra,  pro- 
vided the  right  kind  of  other  foods  be  taken  with  it. 


10  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

Pellagra  occurs  in  the  ''corn  belt"  of  the  United  States, 
and  especially  among  the  poorer  classes  in  the  south. 
The  disease  has  developed  since  the  introduction  in 
1880  of  highly  perfected  milling  machinery  which 
furnishes  corn  and  wheat  completely  freed  from  their 
outer  coverings.  In  Italy,  where  the  milling  of  corn  is 
still  primitive,  pellagra  is  not  so  severe  as  mth  us, 
because  the  corn  ofTal  is  not  completely  removed  and 
this  contains  the  accessory  food  substances  or  vitam- 
ines  which  are  essential  to  life.  Pellagra  is  generally 
beHeved  to  be  produced  by  a  too  exclusive  use  of 
highly  milled  corn  and  wheat  flour  in  association  with 
salt  meats  and  canned  goods,  all  of  which  are  deficient 
in  vitamines.  The  administration  of  fresh  milk  is 
naturally  indicated.  Goldberger  states  that  after  the 
addition  of  milk  to  the  diet  of  a  pellagrin,  the  typical 
clinical  picture  of  pellagra  no  longer  persists.  The 
poor  in  the  mill  towns  of  the  South  lived  too  exclusively 
upon  a  corn  diet  without  admixture  of  milk  or  fresh 
animal  food  or  even  of  cabbage,  and  pellagra  has  been 
the  consequence. 

The  Food  Administrator  asks  us  to  eat  corn  bread 
and  save  the  wheat  for  export.  It  is  a  very  small 
sacrifice  to  eat  corn  bread  at  one  meal  or  more  a  day. 
Indian  corn  saved  our  New  England  ancestors  from 
starvation,  and  we  can  in  part  substitute  it  for  our 
wheat  and  send  the  latter  abroad  to  spare  others  from 
starvation.  The  simplest  elements  of  patriotism  de- 
mand that  we  do  this.    Therefore  let  us  cry,  "Eat  corn 


A  BALANCED  DIET  11 

bread  and  save  the  wheat  for  France,  the  home  of  La- 
fayette I" 

The  L^nited  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has 
estimated  that  only  6.6  per  cent,  of  our  corn  crop  is 
used  for  human  food,  and  of  this,  3.4  per  cent,  is  con- 
sumed by  the  farmers  and  their  families. 

The  substitution  of  foods  is  no  new  thing.  We  find 
that  an  EngUsh  contemporary  author  thus  described 
the  food  habits  of  the  EngHsh  people  during  the 
''golden  days  of  Good  Queen  Bess,"  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago : 

''The  gentilitie  commonly  pro\'ide  themselves  sufficiently  of 
wheat  for  their  ovrn.  tables,  whylest  their  household  and  poore 
neighbours  in  some  shires  are  forced  to  content  themselves  with 
rye  or  barleie;  yea  and  in  time  of  dearth  many  with  bread  made 
eyther  of  beanes,  peason*  or  otes,  or  of  altogether  and  some 
acomes  among." 

A  difference  between  those  days  and  ours  is  that  the 
"gentilitie"  and  the  "poore  neighbours"  are  now 
asked  to  unite  in  reducing  the  consumption  of  wheat 
and  to  do  this  for  the  safety  and  welfare  of  all  mankind. 

Another  point  in  war  economy  is  the  use  of  whole 
milk  in  greater  quantity,  and  the  diminution  of  the  use 
of  butter  and  cream.  Cream  is  bought  only  by  the 
wealthy,  but  in  sufficient  volume  to  largely  reduce  the 
amount  of  whole  milk  available.  In  Germany  before 
the  war  15  per  cent,  of  the  milk  supply  of  that  country 
was  used  for  the  production  of  cream.  The  consequent 
*  An  obsolete  plural  of  pease. 


12  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

restriction  of  the  milk  supply  was  distinctly  to  the 
detriment  of  the  health  of  the  peasant  farmers  of 
Bavaria.  Regarding  the  use  of  butter,  a  Swiss  pro- 
fessor, himself  an  expert  in  nutrition,  complains  that 
whereas  in  his  youth  children  were  never  given  butter 
on  their  bread  for  breakfast,  not  even  when  there  was 
no  jam  in  the  house,  yet  to-day  absence  of  butter  from 
the  table  is  held  to  be  indicative  of  direst  poverty. 

If  one  takes  a  pint  of  whole  milk  daily,  or  even,  as  we 
have  seen,  cabbage  or  beet-tops  in  its  stead,  one  may 
take  fat  in  the  forms  of  olive  oil  or  cottonseed  oil, 
corn  oil,  cocoanut  oil,  peanut  butter,  or  in  other  vege- 
table oils,  without  possible  prejudice  to  health. 

Osborne  and  Mendel,  and  more  recently  Halliburton, 
have  pointed  out  that  oleomargarine  as  prepared  from 
beef-fat  contains  the  fat-soluble  growth-promoting 
accessory  substance  or  vitamine  which  is  present  in 
butter-fat,  but  which  is  not  contained  in  vegetable 
oils  or  in  lard. 

Halliburton  and  Drummond  summarize  the  practical 
results  of  their  work  as  follows: 

But  when  we  approach  the  subject  of  the  dietary  of  the  poorer 
classes,  the  question  is  a  more  serious  one.  In  ordinary  times  the 
consumption  of  beef  dripping,  which  is  considerable  among  the 
poor,  would  to  a  large  extent  supply  the  lacking  properties  of  a 
vegetable-oil  margarine.  But  at  the  present  time  beef  itself  is 
expensive,  and  the  opportunities  of  obtaining  dripping  are  there- 
fore minimized.  At  the  same  time  the  three  important  foods  for 
children  already  enumerated  (milk,  butter,  eggs)  have  risen  in 
cost,  so  as  to  be  almost  prohibitive  to  those  with  slender  incomes. 


A  BALANCED  DIET  13 

The  vegetable-oil  margarines  still  remain  comparatively  cheap, 
and  the  danger  is  that  unless  measures  are  taken  to  insure  a  proper 
milk  supply  for  infants  at  a  reasonable  charge,  these  infants  may 
run  the  risk  of  being  fed,  so  far  as  fat  is  concerned,  entirely  upon 
an  inferior  brand  of  margarine,  destitute  of  the  growth-promoting 
accessory  substance.  It  would  be  truer  economy  even  for  the 
poor  to  purchase  smaller  quantities  of  an  oleo-oil  margarine  if 
they  cannot  afford  the  luxury  of  real  butter. 

The  legal  restrictions  placed  upon  the  sale  of  oleo- 
margarine and  the  taxes  enhancing  its  cost,  now  in 
operation  in  many  of  our  states,  are  without  warrant 
in  morals  or  common  sense  and  should  be  entirely 
abolished  in  times  like  these.  A  well-made  brand  of 
oleomargarine  is  much  more  palatable  than  butter  of 
the  second  grade,  and  certainly  for  cooking  purposes 
is  just  as  valuable. 

Whole  milk  contains  everything  necessary  for  growth 
and  maintenance,  protein,  fat,  milk-sugar,  salts,  water, 
and  the  unknown  but  invaluable  accessory  substances. 
It  is  of  such  prime  importance  that  each  family  should 
have  this  admirable  food  that  I  have  suggested  that 
no  family  of  five  should  ever  buy  meat  until  they  have 
bought  three  quarts  of  milk.  The  insistence  by  sci- 
entific men  upon  the  prime  importance  of  milk  has 
probably  had  something  to  do  with  its  rapid  enhance- 
ment in  price.  This  latter  factor  is  greatly  to  be 
regretted.  I  have  often  wondered  why  it  was  that  a 
quart  bottle  of  a  fancy  brand  of  milk  in  New  York 
should  cost  about  as  much  as  a  quart  of  vin  ordinaire 
on  the  streets  of  Paris,  and  a  quart  bottle  of  cream  as 


14  FOOD  IN  WAR'  TIME 

much  as  a  quart  of  good  champagne  in  Paris.  Despite 
much  denial  it  appears  to  me  that  milk  is  not  sold  as 
cheaply  as  it  ought  to  be.  Everything  should  be  done 
to  conserve  our  herds  of  cows  for  the  increased  supply 
of  whole  milk  and  incidentally  for  the  manufacture  of 
cheese  and  of  milk  powder  or  of  condensed  milk. 

If  one  takes  milk  with  other  foods,  meat  may  be 
dispensed  with.  Thus  Hindhede  advocates  as  ideal  a 
diet  consisting  of  bread,  potatoes,  fruit,  and  a  pint  of 
milk.  Splendid  health,  both  of  body  and  mind,  the 
peasants'  comparative  immunity  to  indigestion,  kidney 
and  liver  disease,  as  well  as  an  absolute  immunity  to 
gout,  is  the  alluring  prospect  held  out  by  the  following 
dietary: 

Graham  bread 1  pound 

Potatoes 2  pounds 

Vegetable  fat ^  pound 

Apples \}4  pounds 

Milk 1  pint 

This  bread-potato-fruit  diet  gives  a  very  excellent 
basis  of  wholesome  nutrition.  The  potatoes  yield  an 
alkaline  ash  which  has  a  highly  solvent  power  over  uric 
acid,  and,  therefore,  a  good  supply  of  these  valuable 
tubers  is  needed  by  the  nation. 

To  most  Americans  the  dietary  factors  here  de- 
scribed will  appear  to  be  merely  attenuated  hypotheses, 
fit  only  for  philosophic  contemplation.  For,  in  real 
life,  it  is  the  roast  beef  of  Old  England,  or  some  other 
famed  equivalent,  that  makes  its  appeal.     Far  be  it 


A  BALANCED  DIET  15 

from  me  to  disparage  the  feast  following  a  hunt  of  the 
wild  boar  or  other  feasts  famed  in  song  and  story,  but 
that  is  not  the  question.  The  question  is,  is  meat 
necessary?  The  description  of  the  Italian  dietary 
answers  this  in  the  negative. 

But  is  meat  desirable?  The  Italian  experimenters 
believed  that  the  addition  of  four  or  eight  ounces  of 
meat  to  the  dietaries  of  some  of  their  subjects  increased 
their  physical  and  also  their  mental  powers.  The 
increase  in  mental  power  due  to  change  in  diet  has 
always  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  figment  of  the  imagination 
and  not  susceptible  of  demonstration.  Thomas  lived 
for  twenty-four  days  on  a  diet  of  starch  and  cream, 
during  four  days  of  w^hich  time  the  very  small  quantity 
of  three  ounces  of  meat  was  taken  daily,  and  he  found 
his  mental  and  muscular  power  unchanged. 

A  remarkable  experiment  on  the  effect  of  a  potato 
diet  has  been  reported  by  Hindhede.  An  individual 
partook  of  a  diet  of  between  four  and  one-half  and 
nine  pounds  of  potatoes  daily,  with  some  vegetable 
margarine,  during  a  period  of  nearly  three  hundred 
days.  The  rule  was  to  eat  only  when  hungry  and  then 
the  potatoes  could  be  taken  at  the  rate  of  an  ounce  a 
minute.  During  the  last  three  months  (ninety-five 
days)  of  the  experiment  severe  m.echanical  work  was 
performed  and  the  total  food  intake  for  the  latter 
period  amounted  to  770  pounds  of  potatoes  and  48 
pounds  of  margarine.  What  could  be  more  simple 
than  stocking  the  cellar  ^^'ith  coal,  potatoes,  and  a  tub 


16  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

of  margarine!  Who  then  would  worry  about  the  com- 
plexities of  modern  life? 

Of  course,  vegetarianism  is  no  new  thing.  Its  prin- 
cipal exponent  was  Sylvester  Graham.  It  so  happens 
that  he  was  the  brother  of  my  great  grandmother,  and 
of  him  my  father  wrote  in  1861,  ''long  lanky  Sylvester 
Vegetable  Graham,  leanest  of  men."  Graham  in 
1829  began  the  advocacy  of  moderation  in  the  use  of 
a  diet  consisting  of  vegetables,  Graham  bread,  fruits, 
nuts,  salts  and  pure  water,  and  excluding  meat,  sauces, 
salads,  tea,  coffee,  alcohol,  pepper,  and  mustard.  The 
first  effect  of  this  diet,  which  largely  eliminated  the 
flavors,  w^as  to  reduce  the  weight  through  lowering  the 
intake  of  food,  but  the  health  of  many  followers  of  the 
diet  appears  to  have  been  benefited.  The  ''Graham 
System"  of  dieting  suffered  from  withering  criticism 
at  the  time.  He  published  in  1837  a  little  book  en- 
titled, "Bread  and  Bread  Making,"  bearing  on  its 
cover  the  scriptural  quotation  "Bread  strengtheneth 
man's  heart."     He  says  in  this  volume: 

But  while  the  people  of  our  countr>'  are  entirely  given  up  as  they 
are  at  present,  to  gross  and  promiscuous  feeding  on  the  dead  car- 
casses of  animals  and  to  the  untiring  pursuit  of  wealth,  it  is  per- 
haps wholly  vain  for  a  single  individual  to  raise  his  voice  on  a  sub- 
ject of  this  kind. 

The  well-known  work  of  Chittenden  has  shown  that 
when  the  protein  intake  is  reduced  by  one  half  or  less 
of  that  which  the  average  American  appetite  suggests, 
professional  men,  soldiers  and  athletes  may  be  main- 


A  BALANCED  DIET  17 

tained  in  the  best  physical  condition.  One  of  Yale's 
champion  intercollegiate  athletes  won  all  the  events 
of  the  year  in  which  he  was  entered  while  living  on  a 
reduced  protein  or  Chittenden  diet.  Upon  such  a 
diet,  or  less  than  that,  the  people  of  Germany  are  now 
living  to-day.  The  principle  involves  eating  meat 
very  sparingly,  taking  half  a  piece  where  one  would 
have  formerly  been  taken,  and  using  it  only  for  its 
flavor.  The  wing  of  a  chicken  has  httle  meat  on  it 
and  yet  if  eaten  together  with  vegetables  it  gives  the 
meal  a  different  quality  than  it  would  have  had  with- 
out it,  and  to  this  extent  its  use  is  warranted.  The 
muscles  are  active  when  hard  labor  is  done,  but  the 
muscles  do  not  need  meat  for  the  performance  of  their 
work.  A  fasting  man  may  have  considerable  power. 
The  popular  idea  of  the  necessity  of  meat  for  a  laboring 
man  may  be  epitomized  in  the  statement:  a  strong 
man  can  eat  more  meat  than  a  weak  one,  hence  meat 
makes  a  man  strong.  The  proposition  is  evidently 
absurd. 

Not  only  is  the  taking  of  meat  without  beneficial 
relation  to  the  capacity  for  muscular  work,  but,  in  fact, 
an  exclusive  meat  diet  results  in  the  sensation  that  work 
is  being  accomplished  with  difficulty.  When  meat  is 
metabolized  it  stimulates  the  body  to  a  higher  heat 
production,  as  great  an  increase  as  55  per  cent,  having 
been  observed  in  a  resting  man.  No  other  food-stuff 
will  accomplish  so  great  an  increase.  It  is  especially 
worthy  of  note  that  this  increase  in  the  heat  production, 


18  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

due  to  the  specific  dynamic  action  of  protein,  as  it  is 
called,  cannot  be  utilized  in  the  execution  of  mechanical 
work.  When  the  organism  of  a  laborer  at  work  in  a 
hot  environment  is  called  upon  to  eliminate  extra  heat, 
due  to  the  work  he  is  performing,  he  must  also  eliminate 
the  quota  of  heat  which  is  derived  from  any  large 
ingestion  of  meat.  Hence,  the  American  farmer  in 
the  hot  weather  can  eat  little  meat. 

So  far  as  is  known,  taking  meat  even  in  large  excess 
is  not  harmful,  but  it  represents  luxury  and  waste. 
According  to  an  oral  statement  by  \.  E.  Taylor,  the 
results  of  many  thousand  urinary  analyses  in  Germany 
during  the  second  year  of  the  war  showed  about  7  grams 
of  nitrogen  excreted,  which  v/ould  correspond  to  a 
dietary  containing  about  45  grams  of  protein.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  this  is  the  equivalent  of  the  reduced 
protein  dietary  of  Chittenden,  and  it  is  reported  that 
no  ill  effects  can  be  attributed  to  it.  The  flavor  of 
meat  is  such  that  it  lends  itself  to  the  easy  preparation 
of  a  palatable  meal,  but  this  flavor  could  undoubtedly 
be  as  weU  obtained  if  the  present  consumption  of  meat 
were  cut  in  two.  It  is  a  question  of  habit,  but  w4th  the 
present  reduced  supply  of  meat  one  must  adopt  new 
habits.  It  would  be  highly  desirable  if  the  grain  now 
fed  to  fatten  beef  w^ere  given  to  maintain  herds  of 
milch  cows. 

Indulgence  in  meat  is  due  to  the  desire  for  strong 
flavor.  With  the  increased  distribution  of  wealth,  the 
demand  for  meat  grows.     Its  consumption  by  all  classes 


A  BALANCED  DIET  19 

had  vastly  increased  in  all  prosperous  countries  prior 
to  the  war.  It  is  well,  however,  to  remember  that  its 
use  has  been  excessive  and  unnecessary,  and  its  price 
can  be  cut  by  wholesale  voluntary  abstinence.  The 
British  people  have  suffered  no  hardship  in  the  recent 
reduction  of  their  meat  ration. 

A  British  Commission  has  reported  to  Parliamxent 
that  it  takes  three  times  as  much  fodder  to  produce 
beef  as  it  does  to  produce  milk  or  pork  of  the  same  food 
value.  Since  cows  eat  chiefly  hay  and  grass  and  pigs 
eat  grain  the  cost  of  the  production  of  a  unit  value  of 
milk  is  much  less  than  the  cost  of  the  same  value  in 
the  form  of  pork.  It  takes  only  fifty  per  cent,  more 
fodder  to  produce  veal  than  to  produce  pork.  Milk, 
pork,  and  veal  have  long  been  the  estabUshed  protein- 
containing  foods  of  nations  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 
According  to  these  figures  beef  should  cost  in  the  market 
twice  what  veal  costs,  and  yet  the  butcher  charges 
nearly  the  same  for  the  two.  It  would  save  food  for 
milk  production  if  steers  were  eaten  as  veal  and  not 
fed  up  into  beef  cattle.  A  suitable  tax  on  all  steers 
over  a  year  old  would  accomplish  this  result.  If  all 
heifers  were  developed  into  milch  cows  and  no  cow 
capable  of  giving  milk  in  quantity  were  slaughtered, 
the  country  would  be  placed  on  a  much  better  basis 
than  at  present.  It  might  make  beef  expensive,  but 
there  is  every  reason  why  it  should  be  expensive.  It 
would  increase  the  dairy  business,  which  is  evidently  a 
need  of  the  times,  something  for  the  protection  of  the 


20  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

welfare  of  mankind.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that 
a  well-nourished  cow  during  a  single  year  will  give  in 
the  form  of  milk  as  much  protein  and  two  and  a  half 
times  the  number  of  calories  as  are  contained  in  her 
own  body. 

This  was  \\Titten  before  the  publication  of  the  follow- 
ing words  of  Armsby,  the  foremost  authority  on  animal 
nutrition:^ 

Roast  pig,  to  those  who  like  it,  is  not  only  a  delicacy  but  a 
valuable  article  of  diet,  but  nevertheless,  it  is  possible  to  pay  too 
high  a  price  for  it,  and  while  a  proposal  to  restrict  rather  than  to 
promote  meat  production  in  the  present  crisis  may  appear  both 
irrational  and  unpatriotic  it  may  nevertheless  be  in  the  interest 
of  true  food  economy.     .     .     . 

It  may  be  roughly  estimated  that  about  24  per  cent,  of  the 
energ>'  of  grain  is  recovered  for  human  consimiption  in  pork,  about 
18  per  cent,  in  milk  and  only  about  3.5  per  cent,  in  beef  and  mut- 
ton. In  other  words,  the  farmer  who  feeds  bread  grains  to  his 
stock  is  burning  up  75  to  97  per  cent,  of  them  in  order  to  produce 
for  us  a  small  residue  of  roast  pig,  and  so  is  diminishing  the  total 
stock  of  human  food.     .     .     . 

The  task  of  the  stock  feeder  must  be  to  utilize  through  his  skill 
and  knowledge  the  inedible  products  of  the  farm  and  factory,  such 
as  hay,  com  stalks,  straw,  bran,  brewers'  and  distillers'  grains, 
gluten  feed,  and  the  hke,  and  to  make  at  least  a  fraction  of  them 
available  for  man's  use.  In  so  doing  he  will  be  really  adding  to  the 
food  supply  and  will  be  rendering  a  great  public  service.  Rather 
than  seek  to  stimulate  live  stock  husbandry  the  ideal  should  be  to 
adjust  it  to  the  hmits  set  by  the  available  supply  of  forage  crops 
and  by-product  feeding  stuffs  while,  on  the  other  hand,  utilizing 

1  "Roast  Pig,"  Science,  1917,  xlvi,  160. 


A  BALANCED  DIET  21 

these  to  the  greatest  practicable  extent,  because  in  this  way  we 
save  some  of  what  would  otherwise  be  a  total  loss.     .     .     . 

The  hog  is  the  great  competitor  of  man  for  the  higher  grades  of 
food,  and  in  swine  husbandry  as  ordinarily  conducted  we  are  in 
danger  of  paying  too  much  for  our  roast  pig.  Cattle  and  sheep, 
on  the  other  hand,  although  less  efficient  as  converters,  can  utilize 
products  which  man  can  not  use  and  save  some  of  their  potential 
value  as  human  food.  From  this  point  of  view,  as  well  as  on  ac- 
count of  the  importance  of  milk  to  infants  and  invalids,  the  high 
economy  of  food  production  b}^  the  dairy  cow  deserves  careful 
consideration,  although  of  course  the  large  labor  requirement  is  a 
counterbalancing  factor. 

At  any  rate,  it  is  clear  that  at  the  present  time  enthusiastic 
but  ill-considered  "booming"  of  live  stock  production  may  do 
more  harm  than  good.  If  it  is  desirable  to  restrict  or  prohibit  the 
production  of  alcohol  from  grain  or  potatoes  on  the  ground  that  it 
involves  a  waste  of  food  value,  the  same  reason  calls  for  restriction 
of  the  burning-up  of  these  materials  to  produce  roast  pig.  This 
means,  of  course,  a  limited  meat  supply.  To  some  of  us  this  may 
seem  a  hardship.  Meat,  however,  is  by  no  means  the  essential 
that  we  have  been  wont  to  suppose  and  partial  deprivation  of  it 
is  not  inconsistent  with  high  bodily  efi&cienc}^  Certainly  no 
patriotic  citizen  would  wish  to  insist  on  his  customary  allowance 
of  roast  pig  at  the  cost  of  the  food  supply  of  his  brothers  in  the 
trenches. 

The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has 
estimated  that  a  pig  that  has  reached  the  weight  of 
150  pounds  should  be  slaughtered,  because  beyond 
that  weight  the  cost  of  the  quantity  of  feed  required 
to  maintain  the  animal  is  out  of  proportion  to  the 
gain  in  food  value  of  the  pig.  One  might,  therefore, 
call  a  pig  weighing  150  pounds  a  maximal  econofnic 
hog. 


II 

CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE 

A  person  is  properly  nourished  who  receives  adequate 
energy  in  the  form  of  carbohydrate  and  fat  (and  inci- 
dentally protein);  adequate  material  for  repair  of 
wornout  parts,  such  as  protein  and  mineral  salts;  and 
the  diet  must  contain  certain  accessory  food  substances 
known  as  food  hormones  or  "\dtamins."  Also,  it 
must  contain  water.  But  this  is  not  all,  for  the  food 
offered  must  be  acceptable  to  the  palate  of  the  indi- 
vidual. A  member  of  the  French  Scientific  Commission 
which  visited  the  United  States  in  the  summer  of  1917, 
when  questioned  regarding  the  use  of  corn  bread  in 
France,  replied  "on  ne  peut  pas  changer  des  habitudes." 
The  proper  nutrition  of  an  individual  depends,  there- 
fore, not  only  upon  a  sufficient  supply  of  food  from  a 
mechanistic  standpoint,  but  also  upon  the  reasonable 
satisfaction  of  the  sense  of  appetite.  These  dual  funda- 
mentals of  proper  nutrition  should  be  ever  borne  in  mind. 

Heat  from  the  sun  enters  into  the  composition  of  the 
food  substances  when  they  are  being  built  up  in  the 
plants,  and  this  energy,  which  is  latent  in  the  food,  is 
set  free  in  the  animal  body  and  is  used  as  the  source  of 
power  behind  all  the  physical  actix^ities  of  the  body. 
The  energy  can  all  be  recovered  as  heat  and  measured 
in  the  form  of  calories.     According  to  the  principles  of 

23 


24  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

the  law  of  the  conservation  of  energy,  heat  is  not  de- 
structible. The  understanding  of  the  value  of  a  calorie 
is  indispensable  for  the  comprehension  of  nutrition.  A 
calorie  is  the  measure  of  a  unit  of  heat,  or  the  quantity 
of  heat  necessary  to  raise  a  liter  of  water  from  0°  to  1° 
Centigrade.  Apparatus  has  been  invented  for  measur- 
ing the  heat  production  of  a  man,  an  apparatus  w^hich 
is  called  a  calorimeter  or  a  measurer  of  calories.  If  one 
puts  a  man  weighing,  say,  156  pounds  in  the  box  of 
such  an  apparatus,  so  that  he  lies  comfortably  on  a  bed 
in  complete  muscular  relaxation,  and  before  his  break- 
fast, one  finds  that  he  produces  70  calories  an  hour. 
Only  in  certain  types  of  disease  is  there  any  variation 
from  this  normal,  though  of  course  the  weight  of  the 
man  makes  a  difference  in  his  requirement  for  energy. 
If,  at  the  same  time  the  subject  is  in  the  box,  the  quan- 
tity of  oxygen  which  he  absorbs  is  measured  and  if  cer- 
tain other  chemical  analyses  be  carried  out,  one  can 
calculate  the  exact  amounts  of  protein,  fat,  and  sugar 
which  have  been  oxidized  by  this  oxygen.  Now,  if  one 
calculates  how  much  heat  ought  to  have  been  set  free 
from  the  oxidation  of  these  quantities  of  protein  fat  and 
carbohydrate,  it  is  discovered  that  the  heat  which 
ought  to  have  been  produced  is  exactly  that  quantity 
which  was  measured  as  having  been  produced  by  the 
man.  This  measurement  represents  the  basal  metabol- 
ism of  a  man  at  complete  rest,  when  his  oxidative  activi- 
ties are  at  their  lowest  ebb. 

The  basal  metabolism  as  measured  by  70  calories  per 
hour  in  the  case  of  this  individual  represents  the  sum  of 


CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE  25 

the  fuel  needed — (1)  to  maintain  the  beating  of  the 
heart,  which  every  minute  of  a  man's  life  moves  the 
blood  or  one-twentieth  part  of  the  weight  of  the  body,  in 
a  circle  through  the  blood-vessels;  (2)  to  maintain  the 
muscles  of  respiration  that  the  blood  may  be  purified  in 
the  lungs;  (3)  to  maintain  the  body  temperature  at 
that  constant  level  which  is  so  characteristic  that  a 
slight  variation  signifies  illness,  and  (4)  to  maintain  in 
the  living  state  the  numerous  tissues  of  the  body.  Any 
extraneous  muscular  movements  are  carried  out  in  vir- 
tue of  an  increased  oxidation  of  materials  and  the  heat 
production  rises  above  the  level  of  the  basal  metabol- 
ism with  increased  muscular  effort.  For  a  long  time 
the  power  for  the  maintenance  of  the  human  machine 
can  be  furnished  by  its  own  body  fat,  as  is  seen  in  cases 
of  prolonged  fasting,  but  usually  the  power  is  derived 
instead  from  the  food-fuel  which  is  taken.  The  great 
question  in  the  world  to-day  is  whether  or  not  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  food-fuel  is  available  to  support  the 
human  family.  The  question  of  calories  is  not  an 
academic  one,  but  an  intensely  practical  one. 

Science  strives  to  express  itself  in  mathematic  terms, 
and  this  paper  is  written  with  that  end  in  view. 

Phenomena  of  life  are  phenomena  of  motion.  These 
motions  are  maintained  at  the  expense  of  chemical 
energy  liberated  in  the  oxidative  breakdown  of  carbo- 
hydrate, fat,  and  protein.  Furthermore,  the  protein 
structure  of  the  body  cells  and  the  salts  of  the  bones  and 
other  tissues  are  in  a  constant  state  of  wearing  down. 
The  energy  for  the  human  machine  and  the  materials 


26  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

for  its  self-repair  are  taken  in  the  form  of  food.  The 
general  term  metabolism  includes  all  the  chemical  activi- 
ties which  take  place  under  the  influence  of  living  cells. 

The  total  quantity  of  heat  produced  by  the  body  is  a 
measure  of  the  intensity  of  the  oxidation  of  carbohy- 
drate, fat,  and  protein  within  the  body. 

It  is  important  to  know  definitely  whether  there  is 
any  constant  measure  of  the  level  of  the  basal  metabol- 
ism in  normal  people,  so  that  one  may  determine  in 
cases  of  disease  whether  the  heat  production  is  normal 
or  increased  or  decreased. 

Rubner  discovered  that  the  heat  production  of  mam- 
malia during  rest  was  the  same  per  square  meter  of  sur- 
face whether  the  being  was  a  horse,  a  man,  a  dog,  or  a 
mouse.  The  proposition  has  appeared  so  improbable 
as  to  call  forth  much  antagonism.  DuBois  deserves 
the  credit  of  having  established  this  relationship  for 
man  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt.  He  was  able 
to  do  this  on  account  of  his  discovery  of  a  new  and  ac- 
curate method  of  measuring  the  area  of  the  body  sur- 
face. It  appears  from  his  work  that  the  basal  metabol- 
ism for  men  between  twenty  and  fifty  years  old  is  ap- 
proximately 40  calories  per  hour  per  square  meter  of 
body  surface,  within  a  =t=  error  of  10  per  cent. 

Boothby  has  found  that  the  metaboHsm  of  patients 
who  have  recovered  their  health  after  hospital  opera- 
tions and  who  have  been  confined  in  the  hospital  be- 
tween twenty  and  fifty  days  does  not  \'ary  from  the 
normal  standard  of  DuBois. 

It  has  been  found  by  DuBois  that  the  basal  metabol- 


CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE  27 

ism  in  boys  of  twelve  is  25  per  cent,  higher  than  for  an 
adult  of  the  same  height  and  weight,  or  50  calories  per 
square  meter  of  body  surface;  and  that  in  boys  of  fif- 
teen the  metabolism  is  11  per  cent,  higher  than  for  the 
adult  of  the  same  size  and  shape,  or  44  calories  per  square 
meter  of  body  surface  (unpublished  work  of  DuBois). 
These  results  explain  the  large  appetites  of  boys. 

Women  show  a  metabolism  which  is  7  per  cent,  lower 
than  that  of  men,  or  37  calories  per  hour  per  square 
meter  of  surface. 

From  the  charts  of  the  average  heights  and  weights 
of  men  varying  between  fifteen  and  fifty-five  years  old, 
given  by  American  life  insurance  companies,  Mr.  H.  V. 
Atkinson,  of  my  laboratory,  has  calculated  the  basal 
metabolism  in  a  table  here  presented.  Unfortunately, 
the  weights  given  in  these  statistics  include  clothes 
worn  by  the  individuals.  The  calculated  heat  produc- 
tion, however,  is  in  each  case  based  upon  the  weight 
without  clothes.  The  table  is  computed  from  the  fol- 
lowing values : 

Calories  per 
square  meter 
Age  in  years  of  surface 

15 44 

20-50 40 

55 37 

The  table  may  also  be  used  as  follows: 
To  find  the  metabolism  of — 

Women  between  twenty  to  fifty  years,  multiply  values  for 

man  by  0.93. 
Boys  of  twelve  to  thirteen  years,  multiply  values  for  boys  of 
fifteen  years  by  1.10. 


28 


FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 


THE  BASAL  METABOLISM  OF  MEN 

Calculated  from  values  of  the  basal  metabolism  determined  by  the 
methods  of  DuBois  and  applied  to  a  table  showing  the  average  weights 
of  221,819  men  of  different  ages  and  heights  compiled  from  the  sta- 
tistics of  the  medico-actuarial  investigation  of  1912. 


Age. 

Heat  per 

square  meter 

of  surface 

5  ft.  5  ft. 
0  in.  2  in. 

5  ft. 
4  in. 

1 

5  ft.  is  ft. 

6  in.  i  8  in. 

I 

5  ft. 
10  in. 

6  ft. 
Oin. 

6  ft. 
2  in. 

6  ft. 
4  in. 

Lbs.  Lbs. 
Cals.  ^  Cals. 

Lbs. 
Cals. 

Lbs.  Lbs. 
Cals.  ;  Cals. 

Lbs. 
Cals. 

Lbs.  :  Lbs. 
Cals.  Cals. 

Lbs. 

Cals. 

15  years.  .  . 
44  calories . 

107  i  112 
1510  1584 

118 
1658 

126;  134 

1753  1837 

1 

142 
1922 

152  162 
2006  2096 

172 
2186 

20  years .  .  . 
40  calories . 

in'  122 

1430  1498 

1 

128 
1565 

136'  144 

1647  1719 

1 

152 
1796 

161  171 
1868  1949 

181 
2035 

25  years .  . . 
40  calories . 

122 
1459 

126 
1517 

133 
1594 

141 
1671 

149 
1738 

157 
1820 

167  179 
1896  1992 

189 
2083 

30 years.  .  . 
40  calories . 

125!  130 
1478  1536 

136 
1604 

144  1  152 
1685  1757 

161 
1839 

111     184 
1920  2007 

196 
2112 

35  years .  .  . 
40  calories . 

128  132 
1488  1556 

138 
1613 

146  155 
1695  1767 

165 
1853 

176  189 

1939  2035 

i 

201 
2136 

40  years... 
40  calories . 

131  135 

1498  1565 

1 

141 
1623 

149  158 

1709  i 1781 

1 

168 
1863 

180  193 
1959  ;  2055 

206 
2160 

45  years .  .  . 
40  calories . 

133 
1507 

137 
1570 

143 
1632 

151  I  160 

1719  1791 

1 

170 
1872 

182  195 
1968  2064 

209 
2169 

50 years.  .  . 
40  calories , 

134!  138 
1517  1575 

144 
1642 

152  161 

1724  1796 

j 

171 
1881 

183  197 
1973  2074 

211 
2184 

55  years .  .  . 
37  calories . 

135  139 
1449  1485 

145 
1548 

153 
1620 

163 
1692 

173 
1773 

184 i  198 
1854  j  1949 

1 

212 
2052 

CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE  29 

The  basal  metabolism  of  an  average  boy  of  thirteen 
years  of  age  weighing  80  pounds  and  of  a  height  of  4 
feet,  10  inches,  may  be  calculated  as  1525  calories  per 
day.  This  is  the  same  as  that  of  a  man  twenty-five 
years  old,  weighing  126  pounds  and  5  feet,  2  inches  tall. 

A  boy  thirteen  years  old  and  weighing  156  pounds, 
his  height  being  6  feet,  1  inch  (there  are  such  cases), 
would  have  a  basal  metabolism  of  2300  calories,  or 
larger  than  that  of  any  grown  man  given  in  the  table — 
larger  than  a  man  weighing  211  pounds  and  6  feet,  4 
inches  in  height.  I  personally  know  a  boy  of  this  age 
and  size.  His  parents  are  said  to  have  sent  him  to 
boarding  school  in  order  to  reduce  their  food  bills. 

It  is  evident  from  this  discussion  that  the  food  re- 
quirement of  boys  over  twelve  years  old  is  about  the 
same  as  that  of  men.  The  emaciation  of  the  children 
of  the  poor  probably  reduces  their  requirement  of  food. 
It  is  not  generally  recognized  that  the  boy  needs  as 
much  food  as  his  father.  The  requirements  of  girls 
have  not  been  investigated,  but  they  probably  need  as 
much  as  their  mothers. 

These  data  will  give  with  close  scientific  precision  the 
minimal  requirement  for  energy  which  is  necessary  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  bed-ridden. 

Ordinary  life,  however,  is  not  constituted  after  this 
fashion.  "By  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  eat 
bread." 

From  the  work  of  F.  G.  Benedict  one  may  calculate 
the  increase  in  the  basal  metabolism,  as  follows: 


30  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

Increase  in 
the  basal 
metabolism 
Occupation  in  per  cent. 

Sitting 5 

Standing,  relaxed 10 

Standing,  hand  on  a  staiBF 11 

Standing,  leaning  on  support 3 

Standing,  "attention" 14 

If  one  wishes  to  determine  from  the  basal  metabolism 
table  the  heat  production  of  a  person  who  is  confined 
to  his  room,  one  should  add  to  the  metabolism  of  the 
twenty-four  hours  the  increase  above  the  basal  for 
those  hours  of  the  day  during  which  he  is  sitting  in  a 
chair  or  standing. 

Passing  to  a  consideration  of  the  subject  of  mechani- 
cal work  done  by  a  man,  one  finds  that  it  requires  about 
1.1  calories  to  transport  a  pound  of  body  weight  three 
miles  during  an  hour,  and  that  increasing  power  must 
be  generated  if  the  speed  is  increased  above  this  rate  of 
maximal  economic  velocity. 

These  relations  are  shown  below: 

Extra  calories 
per  hour  required 
to  move  1  pound 
Rate  of  movement  of  body 

Walking  3  miles  per  hour 1.1 

Walking  5.3  miles  per  hour 3.6 

Running  5.3  miles  per  hour 3.1 

If  one  washes  to  determine  the  heat  production  of  a 
man  weighing  156  pounds  and  5  feet,  7  inches  in  height, 
and  who  is  walking  or  running,  the  following  calcula- 
tions can  be  made: 


CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE  31 

Rate  of  travel  per  hour  in  miles 3*  5.3*  5.3! 

Cals.       Cals.       Cals. 

Metabolism  for  transporting  156  pounds  .  .  .   172        562        484 

Basal  metabolism 70  70  70 

Add  for  standing 7  7  7 

249        639        561 
*  Walking.  f  Running. 

If  the  man's  food  cost  10  cents  a  thousand  calories, 
it  may  be  calculated  that  he  would  have  to  walk  over 
eight  miles  at  a  rate  of  three  miles  per  hour  in  order  to 
save  money  when  he  pays  a  5-cent  carfare.  (This, 
however,  does  not  include  the  cost  of  shoe  leather.) 

The  carrying  of  a  load  of  44  pounds  is  done  at  the 
same  expenditure  of  energy  as  the  carrying  of  one's  own 
body  weight  when  the  rate  is  three  miles  an  hour,  so 
the  soldier's  equipment  would  call  for  the  added  ex- 
penditure of  48  calories  (44X1.1),  making  his  total 
hourly  expenditure  of  energy  nearly  300  calories  (249  + 
44)  during  a  hike  on  a  level  road.  His  daily  require- 
ment for  energy  might  be: 

Calories 
Sleeping  8  hours  at  70  calories  per  hour . .     560 
Resting  in  camp  6  hours  at  77  calories  per 

hour 462 

Hike  of  30  miles,  10  hours  at  300  calories 

per  hour 3000 

4022 

This  would  be  the  heat  production  of  a  soldier  on  a 
day  of  a  "forced  march."  The  ordinary  day's  march  is 
only  fifteen  miles. 


32  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

This  assumes  a  level  road.  If,  however,  there  are 
hills  to  climb  and  the  body  weight  and  the  pack  are 
lifted  1000  feet  during  the  hike,  this  is  done  at  the  addi- 
tional expense  of  approximately  0.96  calory  of  energy 
per  pound  of  weight  lifted.  If  the  man  weighed  156 
pounds  and  the  pack  44  pounds,  the  additional  fuel  re- 
quirement would  be  192  calories  (200X0.96).  The 
total  energy  requirement  for  this  kind  of  a  hike  would 
have  been  4200  calories.  Walking  down  hill  is  accom- 
plished at  an  expenditure  of  slightly  less  energy  than 
walking  on  the  level,  but  this  factor  need  not  concern 
one. 

Supposing,  however,  this  individual  were  running, 
lightly  clad,  on  a  level  road  in  a  race  for  a  distance  of  40 
miles  at  the  rate  of  5.3  miles  per  hour,  he  would  com- 
plete the  distance  in  seven  hours  and  thirty-three  min- 
utes, which  is  a  reasonable  record.  His  metabolism 
might  thus  be  calculated: 

Calories 
Sleeping  10  hours  at  70  calories  per  hour     700 
Resting  6  hours,  23  minutes,  at  77  calories 

per  hour 497 

Running  7  hours,  33  minutes,  at  561  cal- 
ories per  hour 4236 

5433 

It  is  a  matter  of  record  that  a  man  has  run  between 
Milwaukee  and  Chicago,  a  distance  of  80  miles,  in  about 
fifteen  hours.  Such  an  amount  of  work  would  have  re- 
quired over  9000  calories  for  the  day. 


CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE  33 

These  calculations  are  all  based  upon  experimental 
results  obtained  in  various  laboratories  in  different 
parts  of  the  world  and  can  be  accepted  as  being  free 
from  any  gross  error. 

It  is  e\'ident  that  the  energy  requirement  is  propor- 
tional to  the  amount  of  mechanical  energy  expended. 

One  may  turn  now  to  the  fuel  needs  in  terms  of  cal- 
ories in  certain  industrial  pursuits.  According  to 
Becker  and  Hamalainen,  the  quantity  of  extra  metabol- 
ism per  hour  required  in  various  pursuits  is  as  follows  : 

Extra  calories  of 
metabolism  per 
hour  due  to 
Occupations  of  women:  occupation 

Seamstress 6 

Typisti 24 

Seamstress  using  sewing  machine.  .  24-  57 

Bookbinder 38-  63 

Housemaid 81-157 

Washerwoman 124-214 

Occupations  of  men: 

Tailor 44 

Bookbinder 81 

Shoemaker 90 

Carpenter 116-164 

Metal  worker 141 

Painter  (of  furniture) 145 

Stonemason 300 

]\Ian  samng  \YOod 378 

1  Observation  of  Carpenter. 

To  use  this  table  one  may  seek  the  basal  metaboHsm 
of  the  individual,  add  10  per  cent,  for  sixteen  hours  of 


34  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

wakefulness  when  the  person  is  sitting  or  standing,  and 
then  multiply  the  factors  in  the  last  table  by  the  num- 
bers of  hours  of  work.  For  example,  if  one  takes  the 
individual  weighing  156  pounds,  one  obtains  the  follow- 
ing requirements  of  energy  if  his  business  were  that  of  a 
tailor  and  he  worked  eight  hours  a  day: 

Calories 
Sleeping  8  hours  at  70  calories  per  hour .  .     560 
Awake  16  hours  at  77  calories  per  hour.  .  .   1232 
Add  for  work  as  tailor  8  hours  at  44  cal- 
ories       352 

2144 
After  this  fashion  one  might  calculate  his  food  re- 
quirements had  he  followed  occupations  other  than 
that  of  tailor: 

Calories  of 
metabolism 
Occupation  per  day 

Bookbinder 2440 

Shoemaker 2510 

Carpenter 3100 

Metal  worker 2900 

Painter 2950 

Stonemason 4200 

Man  sawing  wood 4800 

These  figures  make  no  allowance  for  walking  to  or 
from  the  place  of  employment. 

The  data  here  given  are  inadequate  to  cover  the  indus- 
trial situation,  but  they  show  clearly  that  hea\T  work 
cannot  be  accompHshed  without  a  sufficient  amount 
of  food-fuel. 

The  food-fuel  with  which  to  accomplish  work  is 


CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE  35 

necessary  not  only  for  the  soldier,  but  for  the  workman 
behind  the  line,  and  it  should  be  adequate  in  quantity, 
satisfactory^  in  quality,  and  not  exorbitant  in  cost. 

In  \drtue  of  the  world-wide  scarcity  of  food,  the  work 
of  the  individual  should  be  worthy  of  the  food  which  he 
eats. 

Tables  showing  the  cost  of  various  vrholesome  food- 
stuffs about  July  1,  1917,  are  here  reproduced  for  the 
benefit  of  the  reader.  The  tables  were  prepared  by 
Dr.  F.  C.  Gephart  and  issued  by  the  Department  of 
Health  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  a  leaflet  edited  by 
Doctors  Holt,  La  Fetra,  Pisek,  and  Lusk  on  the  subject 
of  food  for  children.  If  the  world  is  seeking  after  en- 
ergy in  the  form  of  food-fuel,  the  w^orld  is  rightly  en- 
titled to  understand  the  value  of  its  purchases.  It 
must  be  clearly  understood  that  people  are  always  des- 
tined to  look  with  hopeful  anticipation  toward  the  en- 
joyment of  a  meal.  They  will  instinctively  "eat  cal- 
ories" just  as  they  instinctively  "eat  pounds."  They 
buy  pounds  of  food,  and  they  could  buy  more  intelli- 
gently if  they  knew  the  energy-  value  of  what  they  buy. 

Cost  of  1000     Price  per 
_  ^      ^  e  T^  calories,  pound, 

Table  1 — Cost  of  Fats.  cents  cents 

Cottonseed  oil 7.3  31 

Oleomargarine 8.5  30 

Peanut  butter 8.8  25 

Butter 11.9  43 

Olive  oil 12.1  51 

Bacon 13.8  37 

Bacon,  sliced,  in  jars 23.8  65 

Cream  (extra  hea\y,  40  per  cent.)  .  .  37.7  65  (1  pint) 


36  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

Cost  of  1000  Price  per 

calories,  pound, 

Table  2 — Cost  of  Cereals.                      cents  cents 

Cornmeal,  in  bulk 3.6  6 

Hominy,  in  bulk 3,6  6 

Broken  rice,  in  bulk 3.7  6 

Oatmeal,  in  bulk 3.8  7 

Samp,  in  bulk 4.2  7 

Quaker  Oats,  in  package 4.4  8 

Macaroni,  in  package 4.5  8 

Wheat  flour,  in  bulk 4.6  8 

Malt  breakfast  food,  in  package ....  4.8  8 

Petti  John,  in  package 5.3  9 

Cream  of  Wheat,  in  package 5.7  10 

Farina,  in  package 5.9  10 

Cracked  wheat,  in  bulk 5.9  10 

Pearl  barley,  in  package 6.0  10 

Barley  flour,  in  bulk 6.1  10 

Whole  rice,  in  bulk 6.1  10 

Wheatena,  in  package 8.1  14 

Table  3 — Cost  of  Ready-to-serve  Cereals. 

Shredded  Wheat  Biscuit 7.8  13 

Grape-nuts 8.6  15 

Force 9.4  16 

Com  Flakes 11.7  20 

Puffed  rice 23.5  38 

Table  4 — Cost  of  Vegetables. 

White  potatoes 12.9  4.0 

Turnips 20.0  2.5 

New  beets 27.6  5.0 

Onions 29.3  6.0 

Spinach 30.0  3.3 

Green  peas 39.2  10.0 

Lima  beans 39.2  10.0 


CALORIES  IX  COMMON  LIFE 


Cost  of  1000  Price  per 

calories,  pound, 

cents  cents 

Cauliflower 42.9  6.0 

Carrots    50.0  8.0 

String-beans 55.6  10.0 

Squash 76.2  8.0 

Lettuce 89.4  7.0 

Celer>' 214.0  15.0 

Table  5 — Cost  of  Brcadstufs. 

Ginger-snaps 6.3  12.0 

Graham  bread 8.2  10.3 

White  bread 8.5  10.3 

Rye  bread 8.7  10.3 

Graham  crackers 9.2  18.0 

Soda  crackers 9.4  18.0 

French  rolls 10.8  14.0 

Uneeda  Biscuit 12.4  24.0 

Table  6 — Cost  of  Proteins. 

Milk  (Grade  A) 20.0  13.0  (1  quart) 

Roast  beef  (rib) 23.4  26.0 

Buttermilk 26.5  9.0  (1  quart) 

Lamb  chops  (lorn) 32.7  43.0 

Lamb  chops  (rib) 34.9  38.0 

Young  codfish  (fresh) 38.6  12.0 

Chicken  (roasting) 41.3  32.0 

Eggs 44.7  45.0  (1  dozen) 

Beefsteak  (round) 50.4  34.0 

Table  1—Cost  of  Fruit. 
Fresh  (in  season) : 

Bananas 23.0  6 

Apples 23.7  5 

Oranges 65.0  10 


38  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

Cost  of  1000     Price  per 
.  calories,  pound, 

Dned:  cents  cents 

Prunes 8.4  10 

Apples 11.1  15 

Peaches 12.5  15 

Apricots 15.5  20 

Table  S—Cost  of  Syrup. 

Cane  sugar 4.5  8 

Karo  corn  syrup 5.7  8 

A  British  scientific  commission  has  reported  to  Par- 
liament that  if  the  workman  be  undernourished  he  may, 
by  grit  and  pluck,  continue  his  labor  for  a  certain  time, 
but  in  the  end  his  work  is  sure  to  fail.  It  makes  no 
difference  what  the  nutritive  condition  of  the  person  is, 
if  a  certain  job  involving  muscular  effort  is  to  be  done  it 
always  requires  a  definite  amount  of  extra  food-fuel 
to  do  it.  Rubner,  the  greatest  German  authority  on 
nutrition,  excited  grossly  inappropriate  hilarity  in  the 
comic  press  of  his  country  by  showing  that  a  poor 
woman  who  waited  several  hours  in  line  in  order  to  re- 
ceive the  dole  of  fat  allowed  her  by  the  government 
actually  consumed  more  of  her  own  body  fat  in  the 
effort  of  standing  during  those  hours  than  she  obtained 
in  the  fat  given  her  when  her  turn  to  receive  it  came  at 
last. 

A  method  by  which  food-fuel  can  readily  be  saved 
with  benefit  to  the  nation  and  to  the  individual  is  for 
the  overfat  to  reduce  their  weight.  This  has  been  done 
with  drastic  severity  in  Germany.     I  have  heard  from 


CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE  39 

unquestioned  sources  how  a  man  \Yho  had  weighed  240 
pounds  lost  90  pounds  since  the  war  began ;  how  a  cor- 
pulent professor  at  Breslau  lost  greatly  in  weight,  but 
during  the  second  summer  of  the  war  regained  his 
former  corpulence  during  a  sojourn  in  the  Bavarian 
Tyrol,  a  joy  not  now  tolerated;  and  how  an  American 
woman  lost  40  pounds  in  weight  last  winter  in  Dresden. 
There  is  every  reason  why  a  man  who  is  overweight  at 
the  age  of  fifty  should  reduce  liis  weight  until  he  reaches 
the  weight  he  was  when  he  was  thirty-five.  According 
to  Dr.  Fisk  he  is  a  better  insurance  risk  if  after  thirty- 
five  he  is  under  the  weight  which  is  the  average  for 
those  of  his  years.  Reduction  in  weight  reduces  the 
basal  requirement  for  food,  and  reduces  the  amount  of 
fuel  needed  for  moving  the  body  in  walking.  The  most 
extreme  illustration  of  the  effect  of  emaciation  upon  the 
food  requirement  is  afforded  by  a  woman  who  after 
losing  nearly  half  of  her  body  weight  was  found  to  need 
only  40  per  cent,  of  the  food-fuel  formerly  required. 
This  represented  a  state  not  far  from  the  border  line  of 
death  from  starvation,  but  it  indicates  how  a  commu- 
nity may  long  support  itself  on  restricted  rations.  It 
must  be  strictly  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  if  any  ex- 
ternal muscular  work  is  to  be  accomplished  it  can  only 
be  effected  at  the  expense  of  a  given  added  quantity  of 
food-fuel,  whether  the  person  be  fat  or  thin. 

It  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  reduce  the  body  weight. 
Suppose  a  clergyman  or  a  physician  requires  2500  cal- 
ories daily  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  work  and  takes 


40  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

2580  calories  per  day  instead.  The  additional  80 
calories  is  the  equivalent  of  a  butter  ball  weighing  a 
third  of  an  ounce,  or  an  ounce  of  bread  or  half  a  glass  of 
milk.  It  would  seem  to  be  the  height  of  absurdity  to 
object  to  such  a  trifle.  But  if  this  excess  in  food  in- 
take be  continued  for  a  year,  the  person  ^^dll  gain  nine 
pounds  and  at  the  end  of  ten  years  ninety  pounds. 
Such  a  person  would  find  that  he  required  a  constantly 
increasing  amount  of  food  in  order  to  transport  his  con- 
stantly increasing  weight.  In  instances  of  this  sort  a 
motto  may  be  applied  which  I  heard  the  last  time  I  was 
in  Washington:  ''Do  not  stuff  your  husband,  husband 
your  stuff." 

Now  it  is  evident  that,  if  instead  of  taking  more  than 
the  required  amount  of  food  a  little  less  be  taken  than  is 
needed,  the  balance  of  food-fuel  must  be  obtained  from 
the  reser\^es  of  the  body's  own  supply  of  fat.  By  cut- 
ting down  the  quantity  of  fat  taken,  or  by  ehminating  a 
glass  of  beer  or  a  drink  of  whiskey,  and  not  compen- 
sating for  the  loss  of  these  by  adding  other  food  stuffs, 
the  weight  may  be  gradually  reduced.  The  amusing 
little  book  entitled  ''Eat  and  Grow  Thin"  recommends 
a  high  protein  and  almost  carbohydrate-free  diet  for 
the  accompHshment  of  this  purpose,  but  its  advice  has 
made  so  many  of  my  friends  so  utterly  miserable  that 
I  am  sure  in  the  end  it  ^\ill  counteract  its  own  mes- 
sage. 

The  work  of  the  world  is  accompKshed  in  largest  part 
by  the  oxidation  of  carbohydrates,  that  is  to  say,  of 


CALORIES  IN  COMMON  LIFE  41 

sugars  and  starches.  Bread,  corn,  rice,  macaroni, 
cane-sugar,  these  are  par  excellence  the  food-fuels  of 
the  human  machine.  In  the  dinner-pail  of  the  laborer 
they  testify  as  to  the  source  of  his  power.  They  are 
convertible  into  glucose  in  the  body,  which  glucose 
gives  power  to  the  human  machine.  They  may  be  used 
for  the  production  of  work  without  of  themselves  in- 
creasing the  heat  production  of  the  worker,  as  happens 
after  meat  ingestion.  (See  p.  18.)  Fat  also  may  be 
used  as  a  source  of  energy,  but  unless  carbohydrate  is 
present  a  person  can  not  work  up  to  his  fullest  capacity. 

Cane-sugar  is  a  valuable  condiment,  and  when  taken 
in  small  quantities  every  half  hour,  may  delay  the  onset 
of  fatigue.  It  is  more  largely  used  in  the  United  States 
than  in  other  countries  in  the  world.  As  a  substitute, 
glucose  may  be  used.  This  is  found  in  grapes  and  in 
raisins  and  it  is  also  produced  in  large  quantities  by  the 
hydrolysis  of  starch  and  sold  under  the  commercial 
name  of  corn  syrup  or  Karo.  This  substance  is  en- 
tirely wholesome  and  may  be  freely  employed  in  the 
place  of  sugar,  which  is  scarce. 

As  to  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages,  the  question  re- 
solves itself  into  several  factors.  Alcohol  gives  a  sham 
sensation  of  added  force  and  in  reality  decreases  the 
ability  to  do  work.  Alcohol  is  the  greatest  cause  of 
misery  in  the  world,  and  as  Cushny  has  put  it,  if  alcohol 
had  been  a  new  synthetic  drug  introduced  from  Ger- 
many, its  importation  would  long  since  have  been  for- 
bidden.   On  the  other  hand,  good  beer  makes  poor  food 


42  FOOD  IN  WAR  TIME 

taste  well.  It  also  frequently  leads  to  overeating. 
The  cure  for  bad  food  is  to  have  our  daughters  taught 
how  to  cook  a  decent  meal.  After  that  vre  can  talk 
about  prohibition. 

In  some  parts  of  the  world  whole  nations  are  star\dng 
to  death.  In  most  countries  of  the  world  people  are 
short  of  food.  In  America  we  have  more  food  than  in 
any  other  land,  and  we  must,  therefore,  be  careful  in  our 
abundance,  saving  it  to  the  utmost,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  conserving  the  safety  of  our  own  people. 


Ill 

RULES  OF  SAVING  AND  SAFETY 

1.  Let  no  family  (of  five  persons)  buy  meat  until  it 
has  bought  three  quarts  of  milk,  the  cheapest  protein 
food.     Farmers  should  be  urged  to  meet  this  demand. 

2.  Save  the  cream  and  butter  and  eat  oleomargarine 
and  vegetable  oils.  Olive  oil  or  cottonseed  oil,  taken 
with  cabbage,  lettuce,  or  beet-tops,  is  excellent  food,  in 
many  ways  imitating  milk. 

3.  Eat  meat  sparingly,  rich  and  poor,  laborer  and 
indolent  alike.  Meat  does  not  increase  the  muscular 
power.  When  a  person  is  exposed  to  great  cold,  meat 
may  be  recommended,  for  it  warms  the  body  more  than 
any  other  food.  In  hot  weather,  for  the  same  reason,  it 
causes  increased  sweating  and  discomfort.  In  general, 
twice  as  much  meat  is  used  as  is  now  right,  for  to  pro- 
duce meat  requires  much  fodder  which  might  better  be 
used  for  milk  production. 

4.  Eat  corn  bread.  It  saved  our  New  England  an- 
cestors from  starvation.  If  we  eat  it  we  can  send  wheat 
to  France.     Eat  oatmeal. 

5.  Drink  no  alcohol.  In  many  families  10  per  cent, 
of  the  income  is  spent  for  drink,  or  a  sum  which,  if 
spent  for  real  food,  would  greatly  improve  the  welfare 
of  the  family. 

43 


44  FOOD  IX  WAR  TIME 

6.  Eat  corn  syrup  on  cereals.  It  will  save  the  sugar. 
Eat  raisins  in  rice  pudding,  for  raisins  contain  sugar. 

7.  Eat  fresh  fish. 

8.  Eat  fruit  and  vegetables. 

Since  the  total  energy  for  the  maintenance  of  our 
bodies  can  be  measured  in  calories,  and  since  this  en- 
ergy serves  for  the  maintenance  of  the  nations  of  the 
world,  is  it  not  surprising  how  little  even  educated 
people  know^  about  the  subject? 


INDEX 


Alcoholic  beverages,  41 
Appetite,  23,  35,  41 

Balanced    ration,     biological 

analysis  of,  9 
Basal     metabolism,    definition 
of,  24 
of  boys,  26,  29 
of  men,  26 
table,  28 
of  women,  27 
Butter,  8 

Cabbage,  7 

Calorie,  definition,  24 

Calories,  cost  of,  35 

Calorimeter,  24 

Cane  sugar,  41 

Carbohydrates    and    muscular 

work,  40 
Chittenden,  16 
Com  and  pellagra,  10 

in  Italy,  7 

quantity  available,  11 

reasons  for  using,  10 

syrup,  41 
Cream,  use  of,  11 


Diet,  a  balanced,  7 
a  proper,  23 
Italian,  7 
of  purified  food-stuffs,  9 

DuBois,  measurement  of  sur- 
face area,  26 


Economy  in  diet,  8 
Emaciation,     metabolism     in, 

39 
Energ}^  of  sun,  relation  of  life 

to,  23 

Fasting,  metabolism  in,  25 
Foods,  cost  of,  35 

Gr.\ham  bread,  16 
Graham,  Sylvester,  16 
Green  leaves  in  diet,  8 


Heat  production  in   man,  24 
Hindhede's  dietary,  14 


Life,  nature  of,  25 


45 


46 


INDEX 


Meat  and  muscle  work,  18 
desirability  of,  15 
economic  production  of,  19, 

20 
in  hot  weather,  18,  43 
restricted  diet  of,  in  America, 
18,20 
in  England,  19 
in  Germany,  18 
specific   dynamic   action  of, 
17 
Meatless  dietary,  14 
Men,  metabolism  of,  27 
Metabohsm,  definition  of,  26 
in  emaciation,  39 
in  fasting,  25 
Milk,  cost  of,  13 

economic  production  of,  19, 

20 
food  value,  8,  13,  14 
in  pellagra,  10 
Mineral  salts,  8,  23,  25 
Muscle  work,  25,  30 

and  carbohydrates,  40 

and  diet,  17 

and  fasting,  17 

and  protein,  18 

and  undernutrition,  38,  39 

Occupation  and  metabolism, 
carrying  a  load,  31 
climbing,  32 
industrial,  33 


Occupation    and    metabolism, 
posture,  30 

running,  30-32 

walking,  30 
Oleoma  rgarin,  12 
Olive  oil,  8 
Overfat  people,  38 
Oxidation  of  food-stuffs,  24 

Peanut  butter,  12 

Pellagra,  9 

Pork,  economic  production  of, 

19,  20,  21 
Potato  diet,  15 

Rules  of  saving  and  safety,  43 

Substitution  of  foods,  43 

historical,  11 
Summar>%  43 

Surface  area  and  heat  produc- 
tion, 26 

Undernutrition,  38 
and  labor,  38 

Vegetable  oils,  use  of,  12 
Vegetarianism,  16 
Vitamins,  8,  23 

Weight,  reduction  of,  39 
Women,  metabolism  of,  27 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


»  Mum 


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luL  17  ]m 

6    Zhi^ 


JpCHAR 
JMil5 


f^SCHARi 


'Lr. 


SEP 


FormL-9-15m-ll '27 


J979 


0919SJ 


¥L. 


UCLA-Young   Research    Library 

TX357  .L97f 
yr 

rill  mil  Hill  I  III  I 


L  009  559  260  6 


